ALCATEL-LUCENT ENTERPRISE
“ Historically , the accuracy of our data has allowed us to provide trends for that , so we can plan and project outcomes ,” says Mohamad . “ When COVID-19 hit , we had to identify the challenges which arose , but because we already had the infrastructure in place , we had the capability enabled on our internal platform ‘ Rainbow TM by Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise ’, which allowed us to fully transform . Of course , the supply chain also transformed along with that , and we were able to identify clear goals in terms of our expectations and resilience towards customer needs .”
In 2020 , COVID-19 ’ s knock-on effects worldwide , began leading to material shortages – shortages that only began to increase at the start of 2021 .
“ Typically , the lead time of the components was 16 weeks ,” says Mohamad , “ but it went up to almost 70 weeks , which meant that we had to anticipate for 18 months in advance when securing components . This unusually long lead-time made forecasting really challenging .”
“ The transformation helped to provide that fundamental baseline of forecasting , like optimising our supply chain , flow and delivery ,” he says . “ The good news in terms of the structures we ’ ve implemented alongside the reactive and proactive teams , which we have called ‘ daily escalation ’ and ‘ the shortage target teams ’, is that we were able to effectively manage the entire process and haven ’ t had to cancel a single order , which is a great thing ”.
Rainbow ( ALE ’ s cloud-based communications platform ), provides connectivity across voice , video and messaging , enabling remote connectivity for all employees globally .
“ It ' s a great tool ,” says Mohamad , “ which provides us with some features similar
DID YOU KNOW ...
With lead times now at 70 weeks
- which we see continuing into 2023 - and with price increases across the globe , we need to be vigilant and dynamic in terms of anticipating those outcomes that yield to calculation and therefore prediction .
158 July 2022